Business Blog

Maybe it’s a “We Support Our Troops” sign at the front of your business or a special discount for members of the military. There are lots of ways companies try to show appreciation to servicemembers and their families. If Veterans Day has you thinking about how to say “thank you” for their sacrifice, the FTC has an easy first step: Honor their legal rights.

We’ve all seen ads for vocational schools promising the inside track on well-paying careers in exciting industries. If you have clients in the vocational school business, class is in session about revisions to key FTC guides.

In place since 1972, the Vocational School Guides (known more formally as the Guides for Private Vocational and Distance Education Schools) are designed to protect potential enrollees from deceptive statements about educational programs that claim to qualify people for certain occupations or trades.

In a world where your coffee pot secretly notifies your toaster that you’re ready for breakfast, one agency dares to stand up and ask the question others won’t: Just what are the consumer privacy and security implications?

Those billions of dollars people send from the U.S. to other countries make the world go around. If your company or your clients are in the business of sending remittances overseas for consumers, you need to know about a rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that just took effect.

A recent FTC law enforcement crackdown focused on allegedly deceptive biodegradability claims for plastics. Four of the cases settled and a fifth is heading to trial. Another action targeted green claims made by a company the FTC had sued before. Of course, the orders in the cases apply just to those companies, but if you’re intent on keeping your green claims clean, there’s a lot you can glean from the announcement.

This tale of phantoms doesn’t involve crashing chandeliers and operatic crescendos. But according to a lawsuit filed by the FTC, the results were just as dramatic for consumers mistreated by debt collectors who used deceptive and threatening tactics to collect on “phantom” payday loans — bogus debts people didn’t really owe. The complaint charges Atlanta- and Cleveland-based Pinnacle Payment Services, LLC and a chorus of corporate officers and affiliated outfits with violations of the FTC Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practic

Remember the cases the FTC announced last year against a software developer and rent-to-own stores that secretly monitored people in their homes? Unbeknownst to consumers, computers came installed with a program called PC Rental Agent. When the software was in “Detective Mode,” companies could remotely activate the camera — meaning they were surreptitiously snapping, transmitting, and storing pictures of anything in the range of the webcam.

There are lots of nifty phone accessories, bottle holders, tow straps, pet items, and lanyards out there. So a label that says the product is Made in the USA may help make the decision for some consumers. When it bears the American flag and says “TRULY MADE IN THE USA,” that just might seal the deal. But according to an FTC lawsuit, a lot of the “Made in the USA” merchandise touted by Logan, Utah-based E.K.

App developers, add this to your schedule. On Wednesday, October 23, 2013, the Application Developers Alliance, working with the FTC and the California Attorney General, will present a Mobile Privacy Summit in Santa Monica, California. Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, will kick off a day of panels to help you understand industry best practices and requirements to protect the privacy of mobile app users.

If we were sending a text about the FTC’s case against Glendale, California, based debt collector National Attorney Collection Services, that might be all we could convey, given space limitations. That abbreviated headline illustrates just one of the technological challenges posed when using new means of communication. But regardless of the method debt collectors choose when contacting people who owe money, the consumer protections of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act still apply. That’s just one point members of the industry shoul

It used to be pretty clear. The entertainment portion of a show ended and the commercials began. The two-column article ran on one side of the newspaper and the ad ran on the other. Or the webpage had the content in the middle with a banner ad running across the top. Things are more complicated now. Some call it “native advertising” or “sponsored content.” Whatever the name, it’s for sure ads in digital media are starting to look a lot like the surrounding content. What are the consumer protection implications now that those lines appear to be blurring? That’s the topic of an

Under the law, telemarketers have to download numbers on the Do Not Call Registry to make sure they don’t call people who have said they want to be left alone. The first five area codes are free. Exempt groups, like some bona fide charities, can get the list at no charge.

If there are strings attached to a particular deal, those material terms and conditions have to be clearly and conspicuously disclosed up front. That well-settled legal principle applies to online ads. It applies to car ads. And so (QED) it applies to online car ads. That should come as no surprise to savvy marketers. But two FTC settlements underscore it, highlight it, and festoon it with multi-colored pennants for members of the auto industry — and other advertisers, too.

If your clients are focused on data security — and they should be — here’s a development they’ll want to know about. The FTC just filed an administrative complaint against Atlanta-based LabMD. The company does lab work for people across the country when their local doctors send in samples for testing. The primary allegation: that the company failed to reasonably protect the security of consumers’ personal data, including medical information.

So people were taking a few minutes to play the free version of Angry Birds on their Android device. At some point between the Giant Slingshot and the Mighty Eagle, they got a "Virus Detected" warning. But according to an FTC lawsuit, that scary-looking security alert was phony and just a way for Jamster (the court papers use the corporate name Jesta Digital) to place charges on people's cell phone bills without their express consent.

You thought Angry Birds get peeved at those annoying green pigs? That's nothing compared to consumers’ reaction when they found unauthorized charges “crammed” onto their cell phone bills for phony virus scans that showed up when they played Angry Birds on their Android devices. To settle an FTC lawsuit, Jesta Digital LLC — you may know them as Jamster — will give refunds to a significant number of consumers, pay an additional $1.2 million, and change the way they do business.

Rerun watchers will remember “Welcome Back, Kotter,” a schoolroom sitcom featuring a hummable theme by folk rocker John Sebastian and a cast of smart-alecky students. The character of Juan Epstein was famous for forging excuse notes and permission slips and claiming they were from his mother. What tipped off Mr. Kotter was that the letters always ended with “Signed, Juan Epstein’s Mother.” OK, it’s a stretch, but there’s a connection between that 70s sitcom and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.